Sunday, February 26, 2012

So I think we have had our last test for little FeiFei - truly I can NOT believe that for a child with dwarfism she is completely PERFECT!

I mean really, figuring out which clothes to take for her to China consumed more time than addressing her special need.

Yes she is short, yes she will be always short.

But like my husband always says - her feet reach the ground right!, then she is tall enough heehee!

Since we have very limited history on her and she snores like a grandma, we asked to have a sleep study done jsut to make sure we weren't missing anything.

Daddy and princess met FeiFei and I at the hospital last night jsut to get her settled and so she wouldn't be scared. BECAUSE, the last time she packed up her favorite items ~ her entire life turned upside down (even if it were for the better she doesn't know this.)

FeiFei on her fun little Trunki suitcase going for a ride!

Playing around waiting for the tech - full of giggles

Sure hope she falls asleep soon!

Tech wasn't the most compassionate with trying to help us explain what was going on

(I think she thought the whole family was there to spend the night LOL)

We finally decided on tell her they were special stickers, and no owies!

All hooked up and um. . . ready for bed?!?!

Night, Night sweet princess we will see you bright and early in the morning

Friday, February 24, 2012

There are currently THREE yes ~ 3 children on the adoption list that either JUSt celebrated their 2nd birthday this month are younger.

In adoption terms the term AYAP means as young as possible. In most adoptions, 0-3 years is the golden age - but for some reason these children have jsut sat on the list. REally, really - why because they are SHORT and they will always be short.

ALL OF THESE CHILDREN ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

Meet Josiah - his 2nd birthday was TODAY.
He lives in an incredible foster home which we have actually visited and he is DARLING! He is currently on the shared list and the best part is that New Day blogs about their children often. AND since he is SOOO stinkin' cute he gets his picture taken ALOT! See Here

This is Whitney and her birthday is 9/11/2008 (I believe she was jsut returned to the shared list). She is a little princess! She knows the facial expressions of others, and can be very cooperative when putting on clothes. Whitney is extroverted, active and restless; she likes outdoor activities and playing games, watching TV and playing dolls.

Doesn't she jsut remind you of our FeiFei!

This is Ella and she just celebrated her second birthday at the beginning of February! She is extroverted, active and restless; she likes outdoor activity and playing games, watching TV and playing dolls. She is a likable child.

LOOK at that hair - us moms of children with dwarfism have to admit that they have GREAT hair!!

(I believe she is with BAAS right now)

And presenting Tanner born 5/13/10 - yes NOT EVEN TWO! (reports when he was 4 mos) This little guy was hiding on the shared list so SNATCH him up - oh isn't he cute right down to his elfin ears! The child has extroverted, active personality, likes to listen to music, likes others to hold him in arms, will cry loudly when he is unhappy and will stop crying at once when held up by someone, can respond actively to stimulation of new things or strangers, and can accept the food he never tried before.

I believe he has achondroplasia, but also has extra thumbs.

Now before I go on, I wanted to add something very important. You see most of these little ones aren't walking yet, which CAN freak some perspective parents out - BUT think about their anatomy. There heads are BIG, their torso's are normal length and then they have their fabulous BUT short little legs trying to hold everything up. It takes jsut a little bit longer.

So here is the developmental milestone chart for children with dwarfism. Please use this before believing that one of these children are delayed. They will walk they jsut have a few hurdles to overcome first!

Two years -

Two Years -

Two Years -

I noticed something else about 2 years - the older children with dwarfism have sat on the list for over two years! Again why most have nothing else wrong with them besides theya re short, a bit stocky. They are SMART, and most importantly HAPPY.

Everyone LOVES FeiFei

THere are currently 25 children available in China with dwarfism

10/98 Fred ages out in Oct - look at him he is awesome. He is an outgoing boy who was not too shy when talking with us. He attends school outside the orphanage and is in the 2nd grade. Because he has grown up in the orphanage, the orphanage started him in school at a much later age than he would have started had he grown up in a family, but they report that he is quite smart. He’s a very good student and above average. His favorite subject is math. He has dwarfism. He enjoys playing when outside of school especially with a ball.

8/18/05 Jonathon has the \"gift of gab\" and can read people. He has rich facial expressions when speaking. He can speak a sentence of 5-10 Chinese characters, ask “what is it” on his initiative, can take off socks, can unbutton and put on clothes, can button clothes and take off unlined clothes. He can state the purpose of daily used commodities, can count his fingers and recognize numerals, can learn to put away toys after gaming, likes to imitate others’ actions and expressions, likes to play with peers and get along with others well. He has a shunt put in to correct his hydrocephalus when he was 1.5 and had good recovery. He is very clever and lovely.

Don't let the shunt or hydrocephalus scare you - this is a rare but still typical "side effect" from the achondroplasia

11/30/07 Howie is darling all bundled up! Since 2009 he has been receiving care from Half the Sky in a group home setting. Under the carful attention of his foster family, he has been excelling! Attention has been given to language and motor development especially. He is now able to express himself verbally, run and jump, and understand emotions. His foster mom takes him to the zoo sometimes, where he is able to identify many of the animals. The monkeys are his favorite!

6/13/06 Hudson is darling little guy also in Half the Sky program.

6/4/02 - Doesn't he look like an all American boy already!!

So many wonderful kids jsut waiting for someone to come get them - if they remain in China they are considered a bad omen and will have very little future. Here they can be engineers. Dr's, business owners whatever they choose to be but atleast they will have an option.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

No cute pics, no cute stories cuz this momma is not the least bit happy right now.

I registered FeiFei for Kindergarten (for next year) and was almost immediately called and told she needed to come for an ESL test.

Umm you do know she has been home not quite 2 months right.

So off we went today for the test. First I had to explain that taking my daughter (how I love saying that!!) off in a huge building by herself is probably NOT the best idea.

I finally got them to agree to me standing outside the door.

WHile I am outside the door I can hear the test going on. The lady is speaking full sentences including the questions. FeiFei is great with language, she reads facial cues and picks out the words she knows to try and answer. BUT a full sentence really.

THEN they read a story to her and asked her to answer questions from the story. Ummm if she can't understand your full very wordy question she can't figure out the answer even if she knows it.

THen the lady asked her how old she is. Well FeiFei can count to thirty (YES in English) but she also is so proud of her family, she will tell you how old everyone is (we have been working on it.) Apparently, that was NOT the right answer LOL!

So needless to say she flunked although I was so proud of her for getting 4 right!!

SO they want to have her bused to a DIFFERENT school next year, do kindergarten in the morning and ESL in the afternoon. Well, she said, it means FREE all day kindergarten. Yeah, I am not making this decision because of the price.

ALL of our kids go to the same school (PreK-12th) a mile from our house. How will she feel about not being in the same school as her siblings. She will know no one! I will have to go through yet another school for them to make accommodations for her size versus being at a school used to dealing with a dwarf. Our current school has PT and OT on staff and an ESL person will come 3 hours per week to help her teacher.

Also I talked to our current schools kindergarten teacher (same as little mans) and she said she felt comfortable (and wants) FeiFei in her class next year.

SOOOO, for BTDT's or anyone with ESL experience do I need to send her? Will she be forever harmed not going to ESL, ruin her life, and become pregnant at 14 because of this choice?

(No one else at the school speaks Mandarin they speak Spanish if that makes a difference)

Now I know why so many homeschool -which BTW was a miserable failure for our family LOL!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

~Isaiah 55:8-9

Sometimes I don't understand the things that happen and especially this week. I find comfort in the above verse. You see, I am a bit of a control freak, . . . ok not a clean house control freak, but one trying to fix things, keep everything in order and plan my life. Heehee and then this week I saw God's humor!

You see although I am NOT a car person (they are a tool) the only car I ever wanted was a convertible VW Bug. In fact, I swore I would have this totally frivilous item by the time I turned 40!!

(go ahead and roll your eyes LOL!)

And you know what I got that car a few years ago.

Well I turned 40 this year!

And God changed our lives so much that we realized that there was jsut no way I could ever drive this car again with my . . um . . SN preschool LOL

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day is always big around here since it is also Princess's birthday!!

Yesterday FeiFei had her preschool party which she LOVED!!

And these are the darling bubble Valentine's I made for her!

We found these great bubble bottles at Target

and then I had a hard time coming up with a saying to go with it.

THen today was the parties for the little boys

These were the Valentine's that little man decided on.

He colored them all and then I sewed them after filling them with m&m's

His party was a TEA PARTY for the mom's - it was SO CUTE!! and they all dressed nice too!

I actually bought Cav's Valentine's (I know HORRORS!) and then stamped them with his Name Chop from China. It was perfect for a kiddo who doesn't really have an opinion, nor can write his name!

Of course the task of giving away his valentine's was hard ~ I am so thankful for his special needs teachers who are so patient with him!

Lastly, princess had to have 52 Valentine's all non-candy. Luckily she is super creative and once we found these awesome puffy heart necklaces online she went to task on our snow day. Then momma made up some cards to put them on (Stampin Up's MDS made that easy).

We decided to make jsut the footballs for the boys.

Now some dinner out as a family (please pray that goes well LOL!) and cake. Pictures of my birthday girl probably won't come until the weekend. Sending love to all!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Wow, really two months our little ones have been a part of our family - INCREDIBLE!!

From this barf soaked child,

covered in bruises from being tied to his crib,

with an inability to share,

NO social skills,

an intense need to quickly grab EVERYTHING,

even at the expense of others.

TO THIS!!

I was treated to the most incredible treasure today.

I dreaded having to wake him up from his nap, but I had to get princess from the bus.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER -

I picked him up and he did NOT fight me!!

I am not talking about arguing, I am talking about full blown boxing match!

A primal response.

Today he woke, and actually responded to my soothing voice.

AND he was OK!!

From a frightened little girl who screamed such a terrifying scream,

wearing 4 pairs of pants,

2 shirts and a jacket.

Sent with 2 huge bags of food and supplies jsut encase we wouldn't feed her.

TO a smiley little fashionista who LOVES clothes,

has friends and melded almost seamlessly into our family.

I can NOT get over the difference in their appearance. Cav's hair was like straw when we got him. I jsut noticed yesterday he has the silkiest hair. FeiFei's is filling in and getting thicker. I am sure they are gaining weight, although Cav is still really thin.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Little man had to bring in a hundred of something - so this is our idea we came up with for our big boy. It can be a little difficult of a concept but little man was able to articulate it to his kindergarten class. We have learned over the years that glue dots on a canvas board works best!

His teacher is AWESOME!

They had books already made up with 10 pages which she had them put 10 stickers on each page up to 100! Talk about FUN!!

Then she had parents send in treats sot hat the kids could work in groups making sets of 10 of 10 different snacks. They of course loved putting them into baggies, weighing them and then munching on them!!

Cav came with me

I finally figured out having him sit next to me and sample the food was better than free roam of destroying the classroom!

Naming of our blog

Welcome to Holland poem. was given to us when our youngest (bio) son was unexpectedly born with a rare form of dwarfism. Little did we know that 5 years later would we open our home and hearts to several other children with special needs.